


High Rollers - 'The Lightfall' - Episode 2

by DanteBanehallow



Series: High Rollers - 'The Lightfall' [2]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), The Yogscast, Yogscast "High Rollers" D&D Campaign
Genre: Chris Trott - Freeform, D&D, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, Fantasy, High Rollers - Freeform, Lightfall, Magic, Mark Hulmes - Freeform, yogscast - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-08-16
Packaged: 2018-07-26 22:39:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7592950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanteBanehallow/pseuds/DanteBanehallow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My written version of Episode 2 of the Yogscast's D&D series, High Rollers! Enjoy! Please read my version of Episode 1 if you haven't yet! Don't hesitate to leave feedback! And once again, I do not own these characters or settings or whatever! This is just me taking their campaign and converting it into written form for fun!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Misled

"MURDERERS!"

The queen's figure hovered, rising up towards the ceiling as a wave of icy, cold air washed over the rag tag team of four, filling them with dread. They stared in terror as she locked her eyes onto Jiutou and the circlet, her face seething with rage. Murderous intent was apparent in her eyes. Reacting quickest, and sensing imminent danger, Trellimar immediately raised a hand, speaking up.

"Now look, there's been a terrible misunderstanding here. See, Jiutou has not stolen the circlet of your daughter," said Trell, calmly, inching forward slightly "It was given to us, as a gift, by one of your servants, Gulthia; as a mark of respect from us to try and show you that we are on your side, that we appreciate what you're trying to do. We understand you are in great pain."

The queen turned towards him, still gently hovering. Her face seemed to calm slightly, her being taken aback by the sudden words seeming to pull her out of her initial fury. Her face was still very much angry, and it wasn't clear if she entirely believed Trell, but she seemed less murderous for the moment.

Meanwhile, Cam immediately ducked down, crouching stealthily behind the sarcophagus. Staying low, he crab-walked his way over closer to it, stopping to reach inside. Noticing his advance, the queen whipped round at him, glaring at his outstretched hand before shooting out one of her own. Her ghostly green limb struck out, swiping towards him. Just in time, Cam ducked down, managing to avoid the attack.

"THIEVES!" she hissed, as she swung at him. As her hand passed over his head, he could feel it radiating with an icy cold chill, sending goose bumps down his neck. Quickly, he darted back up, reaching in and grasping the handle of the mace. The weapon was clearly well made, crafted out of a dark, ominous looking black iron. And it was huge. Its weight made it difficult to carry, as Cam lifted it out of the sarcophagus. Holding it and inspecting for a moment, his eyes darted back towards the tomb. Lifting it up as best as he could, he swung it down, slamming it down on the sarcophagus' contents: the queen's daughter's bones.

At that, the queen let out an almighty howl. The hideously angry cry echoed around the chamber. She immediately averted her gaze towards Cam, the white embers burning in her eyes, now a terrifying, rage-filled shade of crimson.

The other three all stared at Cam in shock and horror.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Elora screamed at him.

"I DON'T REALLY KNOW!" Cam yelled back, still clutching the weapon.

Elora quickly turned to the queen. "Please, please, we're trying to help! We think there may be something about this weapon that may be causing your daughter's spirit some ill...will?" she stammered, frantically trying to calm her down. The queen, however, made no signs of even listening to her, her furious gaze still transfixed on Cam.

Jiutou stepped forward as well, speaking up alongside Elora and holding the circlet out once more. "My queen, Ayandris, there has been a great misdeed done here today," she said, glancing over angrily at Cam as she spoke, who looked back, sheepishly, "I give you the circlet of your daughter as a peace offering, to try and bring peace to your heart. We have nothing but the greatest respect for you and your royal line. And whatever we can do to bring peace to your heart, we will do it."

But even Jiutou's words seemed to have no effect. Still glaring at Cam, the queen hissed, "LIARS! THIEVES! DESECRATERS! MY DAUGHTER SUFFERS BECAUSE OF YOU!" At that, she swooped down, straight towards Cam, her ethereal form phasing right through him and disappearing through the stone column behind him.

Cam gasped, stumbling back a bit as she shifted through him. His whole body went cold. He struggled to catch his breath as it felt like his very life essence was being dragged out along with her. He immediately felt much weaker.

Trell stepped forward now, as well, speaking out into the room, hoping to reach the queen's ears with his words. "I beseech you. We are being honest. Buckland here, he is a human," he said, gesturing to Cam, "He is an imbecile. He does have a floral crotch. The rest of us, we ARE trying to help."

The queen finally turned away from Cam, her expression calming ever so slightly. She turned to address Trell, letting out a long, drawn-out hiss before speaking. "Your fool human has desecrated my daughter's body, just as my tomb has been desecrated by the dryad! Why have you brought me my pain here? Tell your human, the mace must be placed back!"

At the mention of the dryad, the party's collective eyes widened. Coming back to the present situation, Trell quickly shot at Cam, "Fuckland, do as she says!"

Cam paused, considering what to do. The three watched as he paused, before his appearance seemed to shimmer and shrink. They watched as suddenly, where Cam stood, there now appeared a stout, green little goblin. "Fools," the goblin yelled, "I was a goblin all along! I wove myself into your group to get to the chamber! And that's why I'm killing the daughter!" The cackling, shrieking voice rang out through the room, as everyone, even the queen, paused for a moment, looking on silently, in confusion.

Shaking off the strangeness of this development, the queen spoke. "Fools! You have been tricked by creature!" she said, watching as the Cam-goblin promptly dropped the mace, leapt off the sarcophagus and dashed out the room.

Taking this opportunity, with everyone seemingly distracted, Elora cautiously approached the tomb, intending to return the mace properly to its position. As soon as she wrapped her hands around the handle, images, memories that were not her own, flooded her mind. Vividly now, she could see, flashes of fragmented images. A huge, towering, flabby hill giant with horrible looking skin. He was clad in leather armor and wielding the very mace she was holding. The image expanded, to reveal the giant swinging the weapon, decimating swathes of wood elves. The memory flashed. Now she could see a beautiful elven woman, dressed in armor adorned with golden leaves. She drew a long sword and leapt forward, engaging in combat with the hill giant. The battle raged on, each combatant dealing their share of grievous blows until, eventually, Elora watched as the elven woman plunged her blade deep into the giant's heart. The giant fell, dropping the mace to the ground. At that, Elora gasped, as she was sucked out of the memory, her consciousness returning to reality. She gasped heavily, struggling to catch her breath. She let go of the mace, as it dropped back into the sarcophagus. She looked up at the queen who, despite her ragged, undead appearance, seemed much calmer.

"What can we do to help you?" she asked, still breathing heavily, "Tell us how we can help you and your daughter be at peace."

"The dryad...she is of Gulthian. A creature of darkness," Ayandris hissed, "She must be stopped. Her ritual has made me weaker. I was brought back here because of it."

The party looked at each other warily.

"The goblin is likely one of her allies..." the queen continued, "She wishes to desecrate my tomb. As I speak, her tree grows in my chamber. If it reaches it's full power, a seed will be born. And Gulthian's legacy will not be stopped."

"My queen," said Jiutou, "If we stop the dryad, can you lend us your strength? And we will cleanse your temple of this curse."

"Yes...but you must interrupt her ritual, or I cannot help you. Do this and I can rest." The queen's raspy, drawn-out words still felt icy against their ears. "Leave my daughter's circlet here," she added.

Jiutou calmly and gently placed the circlet down on the sarcophagus. The queen nodded slightly as she did so. "Thank you...child of the abyss." With those final words, the three of them watched as the queen's ghostly green form drifted backwards, sinking into the wall and disappearing from sight. The icy dread that filled the room immediately dropped.

"Well then. It looks like we've been misled."


	2. True Colors

“I thought she was nice. She had a nice voice,” said Trell, shrugging. The others glanced at him, curiously. 

“I think,” said Elora, “If the queen wanted to hurt us, she would have.” Her head whipped round, however, as Jiutou let out a sudden but soft gasp. Jiutou was looking down, staring at her arm, which was beginning to transform from the bark-like substance Gulthia had bestowed upon her, to its original smooth texture and purple tone. Jiutou frowned. It hadn’t been an hour. Not even close. It seemed something had forced the spell to end early.

Goblin-Cam, having lurked not too far away during the proceedings, waddled back into the room. “I think everything leads to them being pretty bad.”

Seeing him, Elora strode over, sternly, and smacked him on the back of the head. Momentarily forgetting how disguise spells worked, her hand made contact with not his head, but what felt more like Cam’s abdomen, at the height where the image of the goblin head sat. At that, she began blindly swatting above the goblin’s form, smacking Cam’s head a few times. Cam quickly dissipated the spell, returning to his original form. 

“Don’t do things like that!” she scolded, “Don’t smash people’s bones! Why would you do that?”

“You are a terrible human being,” Jiutou added. 

“I didn’t really think it through,” Cam replied, sheepishly, “I thought those were HER bones. And I thought, mash mash, she goes away.”

“That’s still pretty disrespectful.”

“Well. She was a crazy spirit lady.”

“I think we can understand why you were abandoned as a child,” quipped Trell, raising an eyebrow at Cam’s words. 

“We need to stop that ritual. There was a tale,” began Elora, “And in that tale, Gulthia was a vampire. Something about this tree is bad and we need to stop it before it’s fully grown.”

“I would like to point out,” interjected Jiutou, “That the supposed spell she cast on me that gave me extra defence seems to have gone.”

“She lured us to our doom. So that they could do the ritual while we were-“

All of a sudden, the sound of a male scream from the other chamber fell upon all four of their ears. They turned to run, Cam leading the way, as they sprinted through the mural room, taking care not to step where the images of blades crossed, and back into the chamber beyond. Rounding the corner, they arrived in time to witness the horrible sight of Tomas’ body being lifted into the air by vines, the last drops of blood from cuts made to his wrists and neck falling into a wooden bowl beneath him. Holding the bowl, Gulthia stood, under him, now bringing the blood-filled bowl to her lips and taking a long sip. Next to her, they spotted Renwyn, face in one hand, barely able to look. Lowering the bowl, Gulthia let out a noise of content. 

“Ahh…at last. Father’s tree will be completed. And how excellent…that our friends have returned,” Gulthia says, turning and gesturing to the four of them. With that, Tomas’ body was lowered and slumped onto the altar below. Turning back to him, Gulthia placed a hand on his chest, a vine emerging from it and into his body. 

Elora immediately reached behind her, grabbing and nocking an arrow as Cam’s hand whipped to his side, flinging the first dagger he could find. It spun through the air, masterfully slicing at the vine before it could come into contact with Tomas. Gulthia’s hand immediately recoiled, her once serene and child-like face now twisted and hissing in anger.

“Ah! Kill them! Renwyn, come with me, we must complete this!” she yelled, directing the vine creature towards the party as she and Renwyn turned to leave the room through the door behind the altar. Renwyn quickly shot them a sad look, before raising a hand to the stone door and exerting some sort of magical force on it. Elora immediately recognised it as some form of druid craft, watching as the door slowly rotated and opened, allowing Gulthia and Renwyn to leave. As it closed again, the hulking mass of vines turned towards the group. 

Through the narrow corridor, Trell’s view of the room was skewed and he could only really see Elora and Cam reacting to whatever took place. Eager to leap into the fray, wits about him, he pushed past, striding into the room. Just as he made his way around Cam, he quickly caught, in the corner of his eye, a second creature’s arrival on the right side of the room, opposite the altar. It emerged from a thicket of branches and vines, and looked very much like the ones they’d fought previously. Hoping to cause some friendly fire, Trell kept running, dashing through both their lines of sight, towards the other end of the room. As he ran, the second creature raised a nasty looking, needle covered hand and thrust it forward, needle-like branches flying out from it towards Trell. They sailed through the air, embedding deep into Trellimar’s back. He let out a gasp of pain, the attack causing him to stumble forwards and fall, but not before he raised a hand, quickly retaliating with an attack of his own. All of a sudden, hellish flames erupted around the creature, the fires dancing and licking at its vulnerable, wooden frame. Reacting silently, the creature began frantically flailing about, trying to put itself out. But the pain from its attack proved too much, as Trell’s vision turned to black, his body collapsing in the middle of the room. 

Eyes widening at the sudden fall of one of her companions, Elora quickly turned to fire. Aiming her bow at the needle creature, she loosed the arrow she had nocked earlier. It sailed through the air, slamming right into the creature’s face and splitting its gnarled, wooden face in two. The force of the shot staggered the creature, as it stumbled back falling to pieces, its life force seeping away. Not hesitating for a second, Elora immediately ran past Cam and over to Trell, patting him down. Finding what she was looking for, a small vial containing a health potion, she quickly uncorked it and poured it into Trell’s mouth. Choking and sputtering for a moment, he gasped, sitting up quickly, staring into the face of Elora kneeling over him. 

Having had the worst view of the action from all the way at the back of the corridor, Jiutou quickly ran forward, shoving Cam out of the way. A blur of red robes, Jiutou, quick to spot the creature behind the altar, dashed towards the hulking mass of vines and leapt into the air, using her momentum to bring her Guandao up, then down towards it. However, not expecting so much resistance, and thus not striking with full force, Jiutou’s attack barely scraped the creature’s thick, woven armor. It easily shrugged the attack off, the blade making little more than a nick. Attempting to follow up her initial attempt, Jiutou spun round, bringing her foot straight into the creature’s side. But the deadliness of her unarmed strikes came from her familiarity of vital spots and where to strike ordinary humanoids. Where she expected an organ, there were only more vines and thick branches. She wrenched her foot free from where it had gotten wrapped up in vines, again, barely phasing the creature. 

In response, the creature lurched forward, attempting to wrap several vines around her body. Jiutou quickly stepped back, avoiding the attack, as the creature stumbled forward a bit more after missing. Recovering, it raised an arm towards Elora and Trell. Along the floor around them, the moss and grass that was once relatively thin and scarce suddenly swelled in volume, writhing and growing. Small vines burst forth, wrapping themselves around Elora and Trell’s arms and legs, attempting to restrain them. However, quickly noticing the effect, Elora and Trell were able to muster enough strength to rip free from the bonds. 

Meanwhile, Cam, still stood at the threshold, took the opportunity to sidestep, no longer putting Jiutou between him and the creature. Drawing two daggers, he took aim. Putting his knife-handling skills to use, he let the first sail through the air. But unfamiliar, really, with knife throwing in a combat scenario, he fumbled, the second flying feebly out of his grip. The first hit its mark, slicing away at some of the vines coiled around the creature’s body. It turned towards Cam, but seemed to otherwise dismiss the attack altogether. 

Brushing off the broken branches and vines he had wrenched free from, Trell groaned and rose to his feet. Glaring at the creature over Jiutou’s shoulder as he stood, he drew an elegant-looking brown crossbow from a back pocket holster. He fired, the crossbow bolt flying straight into the creature’s face, burying itself deep in its forehead. The creature swerved to face the attacker, seemingly a little disoriented by the attack. Still stood beside Trell, Elora nocked and released another arrow, this time aiming for the throat. The shot managed to cut away at a few more vines, but seemed to fall under the party’s long series of attacks that were only really chipping away bits at a time. Moving to reposition, Elora darted behind Trell, now on his right side. 

Jiutou’s eyes momentarily found one of the sconces on the wall and in a moment of inspiration, she turned to Cam. 

“Human! Torch! Now!”

Cam paused, blinking, before quickly fumbling with his pack, drawing a torch and tossing it to her. Quickly lighting it, she brought it up and slammed it into the creature. It recoiled from the flames, though the impromptu weapon still found its mark. The torch ignited the hulking frame, the creature now desperately trying to put itself out. Its body looked dangerously close to falling apart. Noticing this, Jiutou tried for another kick, but mistimed it, her leg sweeping past it. The creature lurched forward to try and grab Jiutou, but again, she darted back, narrowly avoiding the grapple. 

Cam could see two of his daggers lying on the floor just behind the creature. After one combat attempt, and figuring his teammates could handle the rest, he made to try and pass the creature to collect his weapons. However, his eyes met with Jiutou’s, who was glaring at him as if to urge him to do something. 

“Eugh…fine,” Cam groaned, rolling his eyes, drawing a dagger and nonchalantly planting it in the creature’s crotch area as he passed it. His attack seemed to have severed a major vine as he watched the creature collapse into pieces of blackened vines, the bits still smouldering as the fire slowly died. 

But there was no time to celebrate.

“We need to follow them and stop whatever they’re doing,” said Elora, swiftly stepping over the burnt remains and approaching the door. Raising her hand towards the door and calling upon her druidic senses, she could feel the presence of a series of plants integrated into the stonework, forming a network designed to act as a locking mechanism. Calling upon her druid craft, she willed them to unlock, as the door once more slowly rotated and opened. 

Beyond the door, they could see a stone staircase, leading down about 10 feet before opening up into a larger room. But the downwards slope prevented them from seeing what lay ahead. However, with the door open, the four of them could now hear what sounded like a loud rhythmic beating. As if someone was repeatedly knocking quite hard against wood. 

“They’re doing something down there and we should go. Right now,” Elora pointed out. 

“Remember, we need to interrupt the ritual before the queen can help us,” said Jiutou. 

“Go. GO! Let’s do this!” perked Cam, as he began jogging on the spot. 

And with the light of Cam’s dagger and the flickering flames of Jiutou’s torch guiding them…

…they descended.


End file.
